Sunday, May 11, 2014

My Favorite Stomach Ulcer Preventative of Homemade Coleslaw

Fresh Coleslaw as a ulcer preventative and treatment

I think that almost everyone who has Arthritis and takes anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDS has to worry about getting ulcers as a side effect of the drugs. We are given more prescriptions to treat the ulcer and prevent them from getting worse. Many years ago I had an ulcer and I was given acid reduction drug to help my stomach to heal. I took it faithfully for two years, but I was still taking my anti-inflammatory drugs so I still had stomach pain, nausea and heart burn. It is rather frustrating to end up taking more drugs to treat the side effects of the original prescription. There is a chance of getting ulcers from taking daily aspirin to treat heart conditions as well. Years ago it was common to end up with bleeding ulcers and I am happy to say that trend has been reduced with the advent of the newer proton pump inhibitors. I take Nexium with good success.

Then one day I went to the health food store and I had a life changing experience with one of the employees. She pulled out several books looking for treatments. She happened upon a write up about taking raw cabbage juice, raw potato, licorice root tea and Comfrey leaf tea as a treatment. This seemed like a very simple treatment to try. The cabbage juice was not really pleasant, but it was not impossible. I found if I made a juice of raw cabbage juice with a little carrot added that it was fairly easy to drink. The raw potato was very easy as this has been something that my Mom turned me on to as a snack. Just sprinkle the potato with a little salt and it is very good. (Lots of people think it is weird but I like it). The teas I just took at alternate times a few times a day. Since those days Comfrey has become hard to find, unless you grow it yourself. It has become a government controlled herb. The other tea, licorice root is great unless you have high blood pressure as it can cause your blood pressure to rise. It is personally one of my favourites and who knew it could heal your stomach.

I followed this diet for a month and after that first months treatment my ulcer of two years was gone. I have since done some reading of my own and have found that raw cabbage is a well known and tested cure for ulcers. I usually just eat raw cabbage these days rather than juicing, but if I had an ulcer I would not hesitate to follow the diet again. It is really nice when you find such a simple cure for a health concern, especially one that has very few side effects. Since then I have tried to eat raw cabbage at least one or two meals per week. I love to add it to my salads for extra crunch, but my favourite is still old fashioned coleslaw made from scratch. So easy and it goes with almost everything. I have become addicted to adding dill, apple and fennel to my coleslaw. I usually cheat and use prepackaged coleslaw mix just because it is so easy and quick. I have also found Victorian Epicure Tzaziki dip mix works great in place of the plain dill. It contains dill, garlic and lemon.

I hope you enjoy my recipe and my ulcer treatment plan. I like to eat raw cabbage these days as a preventative and its been twenty-five years since I had my last ulcer. I have been taking Celebrex for the whole time too, so I really appreciate the preventative benefits of raw cabbage. I do not really understand how it works, but I know it does so I just eat it and enjoy the benefits. If you search on line you will find lots of information on this benefit of cabbage. I believe it is something to do with what I was told was vitamin U. I just know it works. I like to use Hellman's mayonnaise as it contains very few additives and in Canada it is made from free range eggs. I have many food allergies and it is one of the few packaged foods I can use. If I am feeling very energetic I make my own mayonnaise from scratch too.

The preparation is very easy. Mix the cabbage, carrots, green onions and chopped fennel in a mixing bowl.

Chop the apple and squeeze half of the lemon juice over the apple to keep it from browning. Add the chopped apple to the mixing bowl.

If you chop your onions, apple and fennel into equal sizes your salad will look great too

In separate small mixing bowl, add the mayonnaise, juice of 1/2 lemon, garlic, honey, dill or Tzaziki Dip Mix, and vinegar and whisk until it is all blended. Add salt and pepper to taste. If the dressing is too thick add a little more vinegar. Add the dressing to the cabbage blend and toss. Transfer the salad to a nice serving bowl and refrigerate it for at least a half hour before serving. The dressing will soften the cabbage just a little.

I like to serve mine on the side of chicken or pork. It works great with both. I do not know when I started adding dill to my coleslaw but it is my favourite way to eat it. I hope you enjoy. It is very rare that a whole food can help with such a serious health problem in such a simple way and other than a little "gas" there are no side effects.

2 comments:

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